While the GOP herd of Presidential candidates is made up largely of idiots, ignoramuses and other assorted mental defectives, the RNC is smart enough to know that Donald Trump’s run for the White House will mean a slam-dunk for the Democrats. Increasingly desperate over Trump’s rising poll numbers, the Republican leadership is resurrecting Team Romney. Their mission: stop Donald Trump at all costs.

The effort to take down Trump’s candidacy has made for some strange political bedfellows. Former Romney campaign staffers from 2012 are now working for numerous rival members of the GOP Clown Car, including Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Chris Christie. Those differences don’t matter much at this point: Trump promises to be a slow-motion train wreck for the Republican Party, and in a rare display of unity, they’re prepared to set aside their differences in order to prevent that from happening.

Romney himself, who is leading the charge against Trump, has not thrown his support behind any one GOP candidate. For him and the Republican Establishment, it’s a time to close ranks and make certain Trump does not become their nominee for President. Former New Hampshire Attorney General Tom Rath, who has been a Romney supporter in the past, told the Boston Globe: “The encouragement from the top, from Mitt himself, has been: ‘Go where you want. These are all good people.’ He basically set you free.”

Toppling Trump is going to be an uphill battle for the GOP, given his immense and growing popularity – at least, among mentally challenged, white male voters, whose numbers are legion. His popularity is a mystery to GOP strategists: Trump has little knowledge of foreign policy and world events, which are the primary domains of the executive office. During a recent interview with right-wing radio host Hugh Hewitt, Trump demonstrated that his knowledge of foreign affairs was sketchy, at best. However, invoking famous generals of the Second World War (specifically MacArthur and Patton), he let it be known that as Commander-in-Chief he’ll shoot first and ask questions later. Trump’s military experience consists of a few years attending the New York Military Academy when he was in high school, to which he was sent because of behavior issues (he spent the Vietnam years dodging the draft). Nonetheless, Trump proclaimed, “I will be so good at the military, your head will spin.”

Within that boast lies the key to Trump’s appeal, at least to emasculated, older white male voters. He’s not so much a politician as he’s John Wayne, Lee Marvin and Ronald Reagan (the actor, not the president) all rolled into one. He “talks tough” and puts on a good show. Considering that US American culture is addled by spectacle and celebrity worship, Trump’s popularity among the testosterone-fueled ignorant and the stupid should come as no surprise.

Apparently, the GOP leadership hasn’t grasped this concept.

So far, Republicans are at a loss as to how to stop the Trump juggernaut. And, even if they do manage to derail his campaign, what then? As former New York GOP Congressman Tom Reynolds told the Globe: “The biggest problem for 17 announced candidates is: ‘How do I get myself in the top 10? How do I get myself noticed, when there’s this circumstance where Donald Trump has come in and taken so much oxygen out of the room?’ ”

One way or another, the GOP is imploding, and at this point, there seems to be few options for damage control. On the other hand, Liberals and Progressives owe a debt of gratitude to Donald Trump for his contributions to the Republican Party’s demise.

K.J. McElrath is a former history and social studies teacher who has long maintained a keen interest in legal and social issues. In addition to writing for The Ring of Fire, he is the author of two published novels: Tamanous Cooley, a darkly comic environmental twist on Dante's Inferno, and The Missionary's Wife, a story of the conflict between human nature and fundamentalist religious dogma. When not engaged in journalistic or literary pursuits, K.J. works as an entertainer and film composer.